Diary/Daily Journal
A diary is the most common, well-known form of personal journaling. The word typically has a feminine and childish connotation, but a diary is not gender or age specific. Anyone can keep a diary. Some (like me) prefer to call their diaries simply "journals" or "daily journals", the terminology is a matter of preference, they're essentially the same thing with a different name. Similar to how the Squalidae family is often referred to as either dogfish, spiny dog fish, or dog sharks depending on where you live!
Commonplace Book
A form of journaling I see rising in popularity in recent years is commonplace Books, but a lot of confusion often arises with the term. While rising in popularity, they still aren't as well-known as a diary, research journal, junk journal, etc. are. For starters, you keep a commonplace book on you at all times, so they're usually small in size. Think an A6 or a pocket. Like any personal writing, however, there are no real rules and you can use any size notebook for one.
Commonplace books are essentially the junk drawer (affectionate) of journals. You write in a commonplace book whenever an idea strikes. They're often full of random notes, quotes, doodles, shopping/to-do lists, ideas, and thought dumps. Commonplace books aren't planned out or super in-thought decorated. They're meant to be messy, as they serve as the place for any and all thoughts you wish to write down. Technically my own journals (almost always an A5) fall under a mix of a commonplace book, junk journal, and diary, but I prefer to simply call them my "journals" and nothing more in terms of micro-labels myself. The only main defining aspect beyond having the book constantly on you is that the book serves as primarily a place for your inner thoughts. Any notes, quotes, passages copied down are mixed with your own thoughts on them, and overtime the book serves as a timeline of the evolution of your own thoughts and how your thought process has changed with life events and the works you've read and discussed in your commonplace book.
Junk Journal
Another form of journaling that's achieved rapid popularity in recent years is junk journaling. The term was coined in the early 2000's, but didn't gain much traction until 2020 with a subsection of TikTok: JournalTok. Junk journaling is often a sort of combination of a diary and a scrapbook. It tends to be more so day-by-day or week-by-week based rather than specific, large life events like a scrapbook typically is. Junk journaling is heavily reliant on wise usage of composition and form for aesthetics, as a true junk journal is comprised of literal junk (as the name implies). Stickers and other bought ephemera are to be a minimum. When you include such other aspects in the collage, it becomes more akin to art journaling. I'd argue the majority of online junk journals aren't true junk journals, but are books of collage art, which is an amazing, beautiful form of self expression in it's own right.
Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking is like junk journaling's strict high school teacher cousin. Scrapbooks tend to hold a lot more personal details that could dox an individual than a junk journal does, so they aren't posted online as often. Additionally, scrapbooking seems to be dying out in popularity as other creative journal formats gain more traction over the years, but is an art form that'll likely never truly die out. Scrapbooks are planned out, and spreads usually refer to specific life events. A scrapbook shows photos with minimal writing or details. Junk journaling and art journaling often can be lumped under scrapbooking or journaling both, as scrapbooking is more of an umbrella term that can be hard to capture in words. Photo albums often count as scrapbooks.
Reflective Journaling & Gratitude Journaling
As per Google, "Reflective journaling is a structured practice of recording and analyzing personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings to gain deeper self-awareness and understanding." Gratitude journaling is a very simple subcategory of reflective journaling in which you regularly write down the things in life you appreciate and that make you happy. This can be daily, weekly, or monthly.
Planner
A planner is a small, usually pocket-sized (sometimes as large as a B6, however) book usually carried on one's person to plan out events and daily tasks. For example, I own this Hello Kitty planner, which I use for scheduling college due-dates, club events, dates with my partner, monthly to-do lists, and so on!
Travel Journals
Travel journals are a diary or scrapbook that revolves around traveling to different places. Typically more than one, but technically could be designated to specific trips, such as a travel journal dedicated to a trip to Athens, Greece or New York City, USA.
Notebook
Also sometimes referred to as a "research journal" (not to be confused with academic journal publications, which is why I avoid the term), this refers to simply a book/journal where you keep your own notes and research. This could be part of a scientific profession, schoolwork, or personal studies.
Nature Journal
Nature journaling is a combination of a notebook/research journal and reflective journaling. It also could be compared to a commonplace book with a specific focus. In a nature journal, you observe nature and write down observations about it, along with how these things may make you personally feel in regards to yourself, how you navigate life, or your personal relationship with the natural world. Nature journals often also include pressed plants. I do not keep a nature journal as I prefer not to force my journals to be any one thing, but I often included such observations and pressed four-leaf clovers in my journal during my senior year of high school. If you press properly, the plants will be preserved for years to come. Alternatively, it's also common for photos and drawn observations to be included in nature journals as visual representation is an important part of the writing form.
Comments
Post a Comment